Subie Fest 2008

Willow Springs Raceway | Rosamond, Calif.

When we first found out about the largest all-Subaru motorsport event in North America, we nearly hit ourselves in the head when we realized we had overlooked it in years past. Subiefest 3 ended up bringing out droves of Subaru fans who made the trek down to Rosamond, California, from all over the Southwest.

Attendees managed to brave soaring temps for the chance to drive the '09 WRX and STI on track via the Subaru WRX Lap Attack, which let anyone over the age of 21 get in the driver's seat for a lap around Big Willow racetrack. Subiefest also offered hot lapping sessions that certainly lived up to their name; with the 100-degree-plus ambient temps and even higher track temps, one Subie actually caught fire toward the latter part of the afternoon! In total, more than 400 drivers participated in the Subaru WRX Lap Attack while more than 50 cars were out in the hot lapping sessions. When it came time to wind down or when participants simply wanted a break, all in attendance were treated to a large vendor area and live music on the Perrin Performance main stage.

Also mixing up the action was professional rally car driver (and newfound Internet sensation) Ken Block, whose live demo undoubtedly thrilled based off the success of his viral smash hit alone! Meanwhile, a Time Attack style contest pitted some of the country's best Subaru drivers against one another for top spots on the podium. At the conclusion of the event, Russ Warr in the Crawford '08 STI won the Street class top spot while J.C. Meynet in his '05 STI pulled double duty in the Modified and Pro classes.

Plans are already in the works for Subiefest 4, and we encourage all the Subie fans out there to mark your calendars for an event that will certainly be back stronger than ever for 2009!

MORE EVENT COVERAGE

The idea of throwing an event dedicated to the wildly popular Rays wheels has popped up more than once around our office. It was only a matter of time before those ideas grew into a full-blown event that took over our office's parking lot